Radhika Kothari, is presently working with LEAD India as Senior Program Officer based in New Delhi. Before joining LEAD India she was with WWF, as a consultant for conducting Vulnerability Assessment and Adaptation in Sikkim. She has previously worked with the Ecotourism and Conservation Society of Sikkim based in the Eastern Himalayan state of Sikkim (India) from 2007-2009, wherein she developed and implemented alternative livelihood options and environmental awareness programs along with local communities near protected areas. Simultaneously, pursing a distance learning MSc. in Sustainable Development, majoring in Natural Resource Conservation from Sikkim Manipal University. Thereafter, she worked with the Snow Leopard Conservancy India (SLCI),Ladakh as the Deputy Director and subsequently as its Director (2010-2013). Apart from the management responsibilities, she was involved in assessing scientific studies, human-wildlife conflict issues and developing incentive-based community conservation programs.
In 2013-14, she received the Department of Geography Scholarship and an Honorary Commonwealth Scholarship to pursue her MPhil in Conservation Leadership at the University of Cambridge, UK. During which, she worked with Birdlife International for developing a road map for the roll-out of Ecosystem Based Adaption (EbA) for its Africa Partnership. She gathered insights from the East African projects to develop the scope and strategy for EbA uptake.
She is particularly interested in working in the Himalayan ecosystems and with the mountain communities, including their unique mosaic of socio-cultural and economical aspects to address contemporary conservation and climate change issues.